Denny O'Neil always said he needed to relate to the heroes he wrote, and Tony Stark was more-or-less antithetical to Denny's values as a social crusading Catholic and veteran of the Bay of Pigs conflict in 1962.   But Stark shared a vulnerablity Denny understood intimately.  So, the mainstream superheroics are given human dramatic stakes by Tony's manipulation by O'Neil creation Obadiah Stane, back into sorrows of the bottle and self-loathing.  Now, Denny had two stories to tell, with down-to-Earth James Rhodes standing in as Iron Man.  Now one of Marvel's best-known heroes- maybe the highest-profile character who could be tried this way- was a Black American, but most of all, a loyal friend, with a different approach and skillset to bring to the twenty year-old character.  Here's my podcast, with limited space remaining, quickly hitting the key insights I uncovered.  It really must've been torture to see Tony, and eventually Rhodey, in their personal d...

First, Happy Birthday, Luke McDonnell! Every since I discovered recently he was born July 19th I knew how to break apart the O’Neil run- largely defined by Denny’s work with newbie John Romita, Jr.-and which day to post. It fit neatly with an Alan Kupperberg tribute remembering him on the anniversary of his death, July 17th. It’s interesting to me, anyway, that McDonnell starts superheroes on Spider-Man and goes on to a long Iron Man run, while Romita essential is vice versa. I note this type casting of sorts where, when you need to put characters through a rough time- when you want to tantalize or depict their downfall or hard times-Mr. McDonnell looks like the go-to guy! If you start from putting clean-cut square nebbish Peter Parker in jail, you then get Tony Stark penniless on the streets, the premier DC Comics team Justice League of America in crisis free fall, and end up with an even bigger set of doomed rejects in The Suicide Squad! For my theory about McDonnell’s grimie...